UC head coach Butch Jones talks with his offense during a timeout in last week's win over Pitt. / The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

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Week after week, the scores are grotesque. Especially in September. But not exclusively. Three Octobers ago, Delaware State went to Michigan and lost, 63-6. Michigan needed less than 30 minutes to gain 727 yards. Bugs do better against windshields.

We mention Delaware State because UC hosts the Hornets Saturday night. Depending on your pain tolerance, that’s either (1) a wonderful “opportunity’’ for the visitors to make money and get some exposure or (2) a fraudulent football game that should not be played.

There is no line on the game. Take the home team and give the piñata a good whacking.

Maybe you think it’s swell that the Hornets, not very in good in their own, Football Championship Subdivision conference, the MEAC, get the chance to play footwipe in front of 20-something thousand fans and on national television, if you count ESPN3 as national television.

After all, they’re getting $325,000 to do it. Who’s going to complain about that?

You should. I should. The fans, the players, the coaches. Should.

Delaware State is Delaware State for a reason. Its players are smaller, weaker and slower than UC’s. That ratchets up the injury factor, physically and emotionally.

The Hornets players will make all that coin for their athletic department. They won’t get a dime. They will, very likely, get a free beatdown. I’m not in favor of college players being paid. Except in cases like this. These guys need to be compensated beyond College, for being hurled into this brick wall.

It’s not just that the game most likely will be dull and unwatchable after a quarter or two. It’s morally suspect. You’re going to send a bunch of volunteer kids into this scrum? This ain’t Bull Run, Knute. This is entertainment.

I wanted to ask the Delaware State athletic director, Candy Young, about it. She didn’t return my call. I wanted to know:

Beyond money, why would you be OK with this?

Instead, I asked Cincinnati A.D. Whit Babcock.

“If you were the Delaware State A.D., would you schedule this game?’’

“Yes. Absolutely,’’ he said. “It makes you more money. It gets your university more visibility. The players I would think enjoy the (larger) stage.’’

More visibility? Is that what you want from this scenario? Savannah State lost 84-0 at Oklahoma State one week, then 55-0 at Florida State the next, in a game limited by lightning to less than three quarters. That is abject humiliation, for money. That’s good?

Babcock argued there are degrees of accomplishment in the FCS, same as in the FBS. True enough. And last Saturday, Louisiana-Monroe did beat Arkansas. But where is Delaware State along that line of FCS achievement? The Hornets lost 69-0 to MEAC member South Carolina State last year.

“I’m quite comfortable playing one FCS’’ opponent, Babcock said. “Two is not ideal.’’

None is ideal. More than none isn’t helping your program, your fans or anybody’s players. It’s a physical and mental mugging-for-money, of kids who deserve better than to be mugged.

It’s not UC’s fault. Most high echelon FBS schools schedule at least one of these games. Owing partly to Big East craziness, UC has two this year. The Bearcats host Fordham next month; originally, they were to play TCU. It’s not Delaware State’s fault. It needs the money. At least, it better. Tossing kids into this mess to pad a wallet, rather than fill it, would be obscene.

Sterling Steward Jr., Savannah State’s athletic director, offered this, after the Oklahoma State loss: “We’re going to continue to schedule games we feel help continue to build our athletic program and to make Savannah State as competitive as possible.”

What complete nonsense.

If you are Savannah State, Delaware State or, say, Florida Atlantic – a 43-point underdog at Georgia this week – and you need games like this to keep playing football, maybe you shouldn’t keep playing football.

If your school needs the cash to stay afloat, it should find a better way to raise it than throwing its Christians to the lions at Big State U.

As for UC: It’s not Ohio State. Fans in Columbus would watch their Buckeyes play checkers. They don’t have a reasonable alternative. Here, we have a reasonable alternative. To expect better crowds when you’re offering them Fordham and Delaware State is unrealistic.

The Bearcats will have a full student section Saturday night, for the second week in a row. That’s great. It doesn’t mean they’ll win a hearts-and-minds competition with the Bengals. Not while playing Delaware State.

The best thing about the playoff system to start in 2014 is it comes with a chance that wins over pork chops will hurt strength-of-schedule numbers. Meantime, UC-Delaware State serves no purpose beyond money for mugging. In college football, that’s purpose enough.